Axial face seals (or “face seals”) are used to seal two relatively rotating bodies against each other. Face seals keep dirt and other contamination from reaching sensitive parts of a machine, such as bearings, and are also used to retain fluid within a fluid-filled housing. Typically, face seals are designed to be mounted and assembled as pairs in a face-to-face relationship to form a face seal set, with the two sealing rings (typically highly polished metal rings) facing each other and rotating relative to one another. Each face seal also includes an elastomeric load ring extending around the outer perimeter of its sealing ring.
In many instances, face seals may be used with rubber-tracked vehicles having high travel speeds, which, in turn, produce high face seal temperatures due to the high circumferential face speeds. As is generally understood, the sealing capability of a face seal is limited by the heat generated between the adjacent sealing faces of the assembled face seal set. The amount of heat generated between the sealing faces is generally a function of the face speed and the face load for the face seal. While the face speed is typically known or can be easily determined, the face load for a face seal can vary significantly due to current manufacturing tolerances. For instance, due to variations in the elastomeric load rings (e.g., in the material properties), the current industry standard for tolerance on the face load for a face seal is +/−30% of the nominal face load. Due to the high variability in the face load, current face seals must be designed to perform properly when the face load is 30% less than nominal, and still not overheat when the face load is 30% higher than nominal. This often results in face seals being overdesigned to accommodate the load variability, which is inefficient and uneconomical.
Accordingly, a system and method for processing an elastomeric load ring of a face seal that reduces the load variability of the resulting face seal would be welcomed in the technology.